On a good day with light traffic, the jobsite is about an hour\u2019s drive away from the Distrito Federal, the downtown zone of Mexico\u2019s capital city.\u00a0 Our first day, I noticed how the high rise buildings and restaurants slowly dissolved into ramshackle huts as we drove further from the city to an area known as Ecatepec.\u00a0 Approaching the site, we crossed a bridge in our SUV that spanned an extremely slow moving grayish brown river (more about this soon).<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/EmisorOriente_GranCanal_Blog_Pic1.jpg\" "\\"EmisorOriente_GranCanal_Blog_Pic1\\"")
<\/a>The “river” flowing outside Mexico City.<\/p><\/div>\n
It was a warm day in June, Mexico\u2019s rainy season, which is quite different from the rain in my home town of Seattle in the U.S.\u00a0 Each day during the rainy season, the morning dawns sunny and warm–but by 4:00 in the afternoon a torrential downpour begins.\u00a0 The water floods city streets throughout Mexico City, whose storm drains can\u2019t handle the sudden inundation.\u00a0 Sometimes the rain only lasts a few minutes, and sometimes it goes for longer.\u00a0 The water eventually runs into rivers like the one we crossed by the jobsite, creating flooding risks.<\/p>\n
We exited our SUV at the Lot 1 shaft and were greeted by several Robbins Field Service guys, including our Field Service Manager for the Americas, Jeremy Pinkham.\u00a0 I was excited to learn more about the TEO project<\/a>, where we have three EPB machines among six TBMs that are excavating an epic 62 km (39 mi) long wastewater tunnel. The tunnel will feed into the country\u2019s largest water treatment plant, which is currently being built.<\/p>\n The morning of the first day, at the Lot 1 Emisor Oriente site.<\/p><\/div>\n As Jeremy and the group walked towards the shaft to be lowered down the elevator, I was struck by a smell\u2014something akin to a vast field of poorly maintained port-a-potties.\u00a0 I asked Jeremy about the Robbins machine, which was originally intended for Lot 5 but had been fast tracked to bore part of the tunnel section at Lot 1.\u00a0 I was wondering why this particular section had been deemed top priority.\u00a0 \u201cDid you see that river just a few meters away from our jobsite?\u201d he asked. \u201cMost rivers, when you throw a stone in, it splashes or skips and then sinks.\u00a0 This one, you throw a stone in and it just goes \u2018plop\u2019, then sits there.\u201d\u00a0 It was only then that I realized that this \u201criver\u201d was El Gran Canal<\/a>, Mexico City\u2019s infamous open sewer originally commissioned in 1910 by President Porfirio D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n The Robbins guys as well as engineers from the Lot 1 contractor Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (ICA) then explained to me that the canal in this section, lined with shacks, was prone to flooding during each rainy season due to a loss of its slope.\u00a0 The effects on the people and infrastructure were severe, so the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) had fast-tracked Lot 1.\u00a0 A pumping station would be put in and the first section of tunnel sealed off so that wastewater from this area could be pumped into a section of the canal downstream that still maintained its negative slope.\u00a0 I was beginning to realize the importance and urgency of this project!<\/p>\n The guys gave us a tour of the TBM being assembled at the bottom of the shaft, which was specially designed for high pressure conditions under the water table.<\/p>\n Looking up from the bottom of the Lot 1 shaft where the Robbins machine was being assembled.<\/p><\/div>\n Robbins employees on the Lot 1 EPB. From left to right: Andrei Olivares, Robbins Project Engineer; Jeremy Pinkham, Field Service Manager – The Americas; Roberto Gonzalez, General Manager, Robbins Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n On the ride home that day we were hit by a particularly nasty rainstorm that went on for several hours.\u00a0 I learned via the local news later on that the very roads we had driven on to get to the jobsite were now flooded with wastewater and impassable\u2014apparently a regular yet extremely concerning event.<\/p>\n Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n The next day we went to CONAGUA\u2019s offices to speak with Jos\u00e9 Miguel Guevara, General Supply Coordinator for Potable Water and Sanitation.\u00a0 He spoke with us about the massive scope of Emisor Oriente<\/a>\u2014a project that could improve the lives of over 20 million people in the area by increasing wastewater capacity by 20% during each rainy season. The new pipeline will bolster current wastewater lines (both El Gran Canal and Emisor Central\u2014a pipeline built in 1964) that have lost their slope due to Mexico City\u2019s sinking lake clays.<\/p>\n Roland Herr, editor of Tunnel magazine (left) talks with Sr. Guevara (right) in the CONAGUA office.<\/p><\/div>\n While Guevara was optimistic, he admitted that health problems caused by El Gran Canal were numerous for the people living on its banks.\u00a0 When asked about future plans, he expressed grave concern that funds were not currently sufficient for a covered option to the open waterway.\u00a0 \u201cAt this moment,\u201d said Guevara, \u201cThe Valley of Mexico is vulnerable.\u00a0 Our new treatment plant will treat 60% of the area\u2019s water, but we need more alternatives as well.\u00a0 We are working on pieces to the problem, but the problem is not solved yet.\u201d<\/p>\n With Emisor Oriente scheduled to be complete in 2014, I am hopeful that at least some of those problems will be alleviated.\u00a0 This is a great example of the magnitude that civil engineering works have on societies.\u00a0 I for one am proud that Robbins has a part in this monumental solution to an age old problem.After visiting Mexico City\u2019s Emisor Oriente Wastewater Tunnel, I realized something: there are urgent projects, and then there are URGENT PROJECTS.\u00a0 T\u00fanel Emisor Oriente, often abbreviated to TEO by those involved, is the latter.<\/p>\n Day 1<\/strong><\/p>\n On a good day with light traffic, the jobsite is about an hour\u2019s drive away from the Distrito Federal, the downtown zone of Mexico\u2019s capital city.\u00a0 Our first day, I noticed how the high rise buildings and restaurants slowly dissolved into ramshackle huts as we drove further from the city to an area known as Ecatepec.\u00a0 Approaching the site, we crossed a bridge in our SUV that spanned an extremely slow moving grayish brown river (more about this soon).<\/p>\n The “river” flowing outside Mexico City.<\/p><\/div>\n It was a warm day in June, Mexico\u2019s rainy season, which is quite different from the rain in my home town of Seattle in the U.S.\u00a0 Each day during the rainy season, the morning dawns sunny and warm–but by 4:00 in the afternoon a torrential downpour begins.\u00a0 The water floods city streets throughout Mexico City, whose storm drains can\u2019t handle the sudden inundation.\u00a0 Sometimes the rain only lasts a few minutes, and sometimes it goes for longer.\u00a0 The water eventually runs into rivers like the one we crossed by the jobsite, creating flooding risks.<\/p>\n We exited our SUV at the Lot 1 shaft and were greeted by several Robbins Field Service guys, including our Field Service Manager for the Americas, Jeremy Pinkham.\u00a0 I was excited to learn more about the TEO project<\/a>, where we have three EPB machines among six TBMs that are excavating an epic 62 km (39 mi) long wastewater tunnel. The tunnel will feed into the country\u2019s largest water treatment plant, which is currently being built.<\/p>\n The morning of the first day, at the Lot 1 Emisor Oriente site.<\/p><\/div>\n As Jeremy and the group walked towards the shaft to be lowered down the elevator, I was struck by a smell\u2014something akin to a vast field of poorly maintained port-a-potties.\u00a0 I asked Jeremy about the Robbins machine, which was originally intended for Lot 5 but had been fast tracked to bore part of the tunnel section at Lot 1.\u00a0 I was wondering why this particular section had been deemed top priority.\u00a0 \u201cDid you see that river just a few meters away from our jobsite?\u201d he asked. \u201cMost rivers, when you throw a stone in, it splashes or skips and then sinks.\u00a0 This one, you throw a stone in and it just goes \u2018plop\u2019, then sits there.\u201d\u00a0 It was only then that I realized that this \u201criver\u201d was El Gran Canal<\/a>, Mexico City\u2019s infamous open sewer originally commissioned in 1910 by President Porfirio D\u00edaz.<\/p>\n The Robbins guys as well as engineers from the Lot 1 contractor Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (ICA) then explained to me that the canal in this section, lined with shacks, was prone to flooding during each rainy season due to a loss of its slope.\u00a0 The effects on the people and infrastructure were severe, so the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) had fast-tracked Lot 1.\u00a0 A pumping station would be put in and the first section of tunnel sealed off so that wastewater from this area could be pumped into a section of the canal downstream that still maintained its negative slope.\u00a0 I was beginning to realize the importance and urgency of this project!<\/p>\n The guys gave us a tour of the TBM being assembled at the bottom of the shaft, which was specially designed for high pressure conditions under the water table.<\/p>\n Looking up from the bottom of the Lot 1 shaft where the Robbins machine was being assembled.<\/p><\/div>\n Robbins employees on the Lot 1 EPB. From left to right: Andrei Olivares, Robbins Project Engineer; Jeremy Pinkham, Field Service Manager – The Americas; Roberto Gonzalez, General Manager, Robbins Mexico<\/p><\/div>\n On the ride home that day we were hit by a particularly nasty rainstorm that went on for several hours.\u00a0 I learned via the local news later on that the very roads we had driven on to get to the jobsite were now flooded with wastewater and impassable\u2014apparently a regular yet extremely concerning event.<\/p>\n Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n The next day we went to CONAGUA\u2019s offices to speak with Jos\u00e9 Miguel Guevara, General Supply Coordinator for Potable Water and Sanitation.\u00a0 He spoke with us about the massive scope of Emisor Oriente<\/a>\u2014a project that could improve the lives of over 20 million people in the area by increasing wastewater capacity by 20% during each rainy season. The new pipeline will bolster current wastewater lines (both El Gran Canal and Emisor Central\u2014a pipeline built in 1964) that have lost their slope due to Mexico City\u2019s sinking lake clays.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>